Numb
by fanwriter1245
Summary: When Mona, a woman with a dark past, seeks refuge in the cathedral of Nanking, she meets several people also hiding there from the invading Japanese. Through a series of events, Mona will protect the others at any cost, face her past, and eventually learn to love. Rated T, but if you've seen the movie, you know there are some very mature themes not suitable for everyone. JohnxOC
1. In the Cathedral

**I LOVE this movie so much. It is probably the best movie I have ever seen. Very dark, and very, very sad, but absolutely stellar. I'm kind of a film nerd so I also really liked the cinematic aspect of it. Anyway, I couldn't help but write a story, imagining what the movie would've been like if another American was trapped in the cathedral with the rest of the people inside.**

 **I've also made a trailer for this story on Youtube. You can see it by going to my channel, aspiringsinger15.  
**

 **Now while this story is rated T, and most of the events written in here are about what's implied, rape is mentioned several times and is a major theme in the story, as it is set during the Massacre of Nanking. Please be advised that there are some mature themes in here.**

* * *

As Mona raced through the streets of Nanking, there was only one thought on her mind: survival. If she was caught by the Japanese, her life was over and they would not go easy on her, especially since she was a woman. Her loose long brown hair trailed behind her and she desperately wanted to tie it up, but she didn't dare stop running. She spotted an older man and two young girls at the entrance to a cathedral. Seeing no other option, she ran up to them.

"Hey," she said breathlessly to the man. "Are you American?"

"Yeah," he answered awkwardly.

"You staying here?"

"Nah, I'm just here to do some work."

"Good enough for me. If they'll let you in, hopefully they'll let me in."

A younger boy came to the entrance and looked at the girls, the man, and then Mona. He looked at her disapprovingly and it made sense that he wouldn't trust her.

"I promise, I mean no harm," she said to him. "I just need a place to stay. Please."

He allowed her entrance, and the boy led the girls into the cathedral while Mona and the man stayed outside by a really big hole. Mona tied her hair up into a bun while she waited for the boy to return. Immediately, several shorter pieces fell out of it, but there was nothing she could do about that. She just needed it off her neck.

The boy came back to her and the man. "Father Ingleman fly away," the boy said in broken English.

"Fly away?" the man asked.

"On here, Japanese bomb."

"He flew away with the bomb, right."

"Yes."

"Why was the deceased out here?"

"Gu. All because of Gu."

"Gu?"

"He said, bad smell. He moved the body here."

"Who's Gu?"

"Gu is our cook. He ran away. He leaves some students here. Some students took away by parents. Some students nowhere to go."

"So who's inside? Just you and the girls? Just you and the girls." The man put his hand to his mouth and looked at the hole, then back at the boy. "Even without a body, you gotta pay me."

"No," the boy said quickly.

"No, you gotta pay me. That's the rule. There's nothing I can do about it. With what I came through, I should raise the price."

Mona looked at the man in disbelief. "It's a pretty desperate time," she said. "Do you really need the money that bad?"

"It's how I make my living, so yes. So is the money inside?"

"No. No money," the boy insisted.

"Money? Inside? Come on. There's no money inside?"

"He said there isn't any, okay?" Mona said beginning to really dislike this man.

"Let's look," he said. "It's a Catholic church. There's gotta be some cash inside."

"No."

"No?" the man sighed. "You say anything but no?"

Mona sighed as she, the man, and the boy started to walk inside the cathedral. The boy stopped by a broken down truck.

"Can you fix truck?" the boy asked him.

"Huh?"

"Help us leave Nanking."

"Fix this truck? For free? No."

Mona sighed again. "Do you ever do anything where you don't get paid? Would it really be so hard to just do something for the good of someone else, no money involved?"

The man completely ignored her and went over to the boy. "I can take parts, sell parts. You got tools?"

"No," the boy admitted.

"No. Let's get inside."

Mona knew one thing right off the bat. She hated this man. He only cared about himself and his own personal fortune. He wouldn't go out of his way to do anything for anyone else if he didn't get paid for it. It sickened her. Didn't he realize that they were in the middle of very, very harsh times?

The three of them walked in and saw two of the fourteen girls fighting each other while the others tried to stop them to no avail. The boy ran forward and tried to pull them apart, but he had no success either.

"Hey," the man said to them. "Hey!" When he still got no response, he yelled, "Hey! Stop!" He got into the middle of the fight and pulled the girls away from each other. "Stop!"

All of the girls were all sobbing and Mona's heart went out for them.

"I'm John. Hi," the man said awkwardly to all the girls.

"I'm Mona."

"I'm American."

"Same."

The boy told them something in Chinese, but he spoke too fast for Mona to understand what he said. She knew a little Chinese and she could read it pretty well, but she couldn't speak it fluently nor could she understand what other people said to her especially when they talked fast. She could only catch a few words here and there.

John went over to one the girls he had come into the cathedral with and put his hand on her shoulder. "I know it's hard. But you've gotta stop fighting everybody. You know you two, you've seen enough…seen enough tragedy for a lifetime today."

Mona raised her eyebrows. Maybe he did have at least a little respect in him. The girl took off and ran up the stairs away from everyone else, too upset to be near anyone.

"I can't, um, I'm not good with kids. Let's go." He turned to leave, but then turned back to the girls. "Oh, you want some flour?" he said pointing to the sack he had with him. He set it down in front of them. "You like some flour? Make some bread for the girls."

"Buns," the boy told him.

"Huh?"

"Buns."

"Buns, whatever. Let's go find the collection box."

John left to go find some money and the boy was forced to follow.

"No, wait, John!" Mona called. She went after him, leaving the girls to continue their mourning.

Finding no money, John headed upstairs with the boy.

"Here is place for you to stay," the boy said to Mona. He led her to a very nice room that looked more comfortable than anywhere she had stayed in quite a long time.

"Oh, nice," John remarked as he put a cigarette in his mouth. "Forget going back to the refuge, I think I'm bunking here tonight."

"Not in here you're not," Mona said sharply.

"Calm down, I'll sleep on the couch right there."

Mona rolled her eyes. She was not happy about this whole situation, but she'd deal with it because it was a heck of a lot better than trying to find a place to stay outside.

John walked over to a picture of a priest. "He's grim, who's that?" When the boy didn't answer, he asked, "Is that Father Ingleman?"

"Yes."

"These North Europeans they're all like, you know, tuna, playwrights, not much fun. Look at that face. He's ruining the…What do you call it? Feng—Fengshui? I can't have a priest staring at me while I'm sleeping."

He began to turn the picture around, but the boy snatched it away from him and put it back up on the mantle. "No! My father. Me, orphan. Adopted."

"I'm sorry," John said. "But I just…it's not good for me to have a priest staring at me while I'm sleeping. I can't. Please, I gotta just…" He took the picture back and placed it back on the mantle with the front of it facing the wall. "There, better."

"You know, you would be a lot easier to understand if you didn't have that horrid cigarette in your mouth," Mona said sharply.

John scoffed a little, not caring about her words in the slightest, and looked at the boy. "You got any drink around here?"

"No."

"You're a church. You got wine, something?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

Mona looked at John. "You really don't know the meaning of the word 'no', do you?"

John ignored her for the millionth time and started rummaging through the desks in the room, tossing things out as he tried to find what he wanted. He laughed as he discovered something and started to open it. The boy angrily tried to take it away from him.

"That's a shaving kit," John laughed.

The boy muttered something in Chinese as he put back all the things John had tossed out.

"What?" John asked.

The boy repeated what he said in Chinese so John still didn't understand, but Mona was fairly certain that she had heard the word 'jerk'. She made eye contact with the boy and slightly nodded, signaling she completely agreed with him.

"What did you say your name was?" John asked him.

"George Chen."

"George."

"Tomorrow, you fix truck, help us."

"Fix truck?" John rubbed his fingers together, telling them that he would only do it if he got paid which forced Mona to roll her eyes again.

"No money!" George exclaimed in frustration.

John led him to the door and pushed him out of the room. Before he slammed the door, he called out in Chinese, "Money, George!"

And now Mona was alone with him. "Let's get one thing straight right now," she ordered. "There will be no smoking in this room at any time. It's vulgar and rude and it smells awful, not to mention it ruins your perfectly good lungs."

"I'll smoke if I want to," he replied with a smile that made her want to punch him. If only he had known what she had been through before she got here.

"Oh, no you won't." She went up to him and snatched the cigarette right out of his mouth and flung it out the window.

"Don't do that again."

"Or what?"

He didn't reply and she smiled at herself for winning the argument so easily. He went to light another cigarette, but she stole that one and threw it out the window also. She raised her eyebrows, daring him to try it again. He didn't. She went over to the bed and threw him a couple pillows and a blanket.

"Make yourself comfortable on the couch."

He didn't look too happy, but Mona really couldn't care less. He would just have to suck it up. After all, this was technically her room, not his.

After a while, Mona heard some commotion outside. She ran to the window and saw George talking angrily with some people on the other side of the door. Suddenly, suitcases started getting thrown over and women in fancy clothes climbed up the walls. George brought out a really long stick and started whacking them with it in an attempt to get them to stop climbing in, but his efforts proved useless.

The women who had climbed over opened the doors and more women dressed in beautiful gowns walked into the courtyard of the cathedral.

John roughly pushed Mona aside and sat on the window to get a better look at the women. She was briefly tempted to push him out of it.

He whistled at the ladies and they all began laughing and waving at him.

 _Deep breaths, Mona_ , she thought. _You are in a church_.

One of the ladies blew a kiss at John which made him grab his heart and fall over playfully.

"Ugh," Mona said under her breath as she rolled her eyes yet again.


	2. Meeting the Others

She and John both cleaned up and went downstairs to see what they had to eat. John took his sack of flour and poured it into a pan to begin making them some bread. The girls watched him bake and they looked scared to death of him as if at any second, he was going to turn into their worst nightmare.

"Come up here, huh?" John said to the girls. No one made a single movement.

"Long time not make bread," George said to him.

"Long time not make bread? No bread? Not tonight. Tonight we're having bread."

He put the bread into the oven and it began baking. Mona had to admit that it did smell pretty good not to mention she was starving.

There was banging on the cellar where the women had decided to take refuge, so John knelt down, removed the piece of the floor that covered up the entrance, and allowed them to come up. They all started cheering when they saw John's face. Mona was sure that wasn't going to be good for his already massive ego.

The women were all dressed in just lingerie and acted like little girls around John as he helped each one of them out from the floor. A lot of them were smoking and it ruined the smell of the nice bread. Mona waved her hand in front of her face and coughed a little as the smoke drifted around the room.

Finally, the last woman, whom Mona assumed was their leader, came up and everyone quieted, awaiting her interaction with John. She held her hand out without a word, and John helped her up. Once she was out of the floor, he gently kissed her hand, and all the women started cheering again.

John noticed the woman holding a bowl of wine. "George, you little twit," he said with a smile as he looked at her. "You said there was no wine here. Excuse me."

John went below and came up with several bottles of wine. Perfect, now he was going to get drunk even more.

George and the women started saying things in Chinese.

"What are they saying?" John asked him.

"They said they're orphans!" George shouted angrily.

"Orphans? Well, I'd like to adopt all of you, right now."

Just when Mona thought he couldn't get any stupider.

"Adopt all of us?" the leader said coyly. "You would not be able to cope."

John went over to her. "You speak English?"

The woman took a sip from her bowl and then handed it to John. He turned it so that he drank from the place where her lipstick remained.

All of the women started exclaiming things in Chinese, but they all spoke much too fast for Mona. John lit a cigarette for the woman and Mona just wanted to scream. Why did everyone here like smoking so much?

The woman took one puff then put the cigarette in John's mouth.

"My name's John. And you are?"

"Yu Mo."

"Yu Mo. I like that. So what do you and your companions do?"

"We are kindergarten teachers," Mo answered with a smile.

"Really? Kindergarten teachers?"

"And you? What do you do?"

"I'm also a kindergarten teacher," John joked. "So as, teacher to teacher, you wanna…get together and have a cup of joe, or…"

The women began conversing in Chinese once more and Yu Mo must've said something offensive because one of the women didn't look too happy.

Mona sighed and decided that she had had enough of all this. "Alright, that's enough," she said. "Girls, why don't we all go and try to get some sleep?"

Mona led the schoolgirls away from the kitchen area and to the room where they slept. Those women were all a terrible influence on these innocent children.

"Mona?" one of the girls said to her once they walked into the room.

"Yes?"

"Why is he flirting with those women?"

"Because he is a male. A very lonely male. And though he is an adult, he is very immature and still has some growing up to do." No one said anything in response. Whether it was because they were scared, or because they had no idea what she just said, she didn't know. She looked around at all the young girls. "Listen, you all have had a very long day and you look exhausted. Try to get some sleep, okay? It will do you good."

The girls crawled into separate beds and Mona returned to her room. When she walked in, she gave John a hard glare and then refused to look at him. There was a knock on the door, and when John opened it, Yu Mo walked in.

"There's no coffee," he told her. "Let's get liquored up."

Mona could not believe this. He was seriously going to do this in _her_ room? He poured her a glass and they each drank from their own glasses.

"The kindergarten fee is enough?" John said pointing to some cash on the table. He went over to Mona's bed and she wanted to throw up. The thought of the two of them in her bed sickened her. "You coming?"

"I want you to take us out of Nanking," Mo said simply.

"Huh?" John laughed. "Yeah. Right. We do this first?"

"I'm serious. Why else you think we were flirting with you?"

Mona smiled a little bit at that blow. She just earned a little bit of respect for this woman. John deserved that one.

"Out of Nanking. How?"

"I don't know how, but I know your face is the way out of here. The Japanese won't touch Westerners."

"Did you see it out there? That's not happening. No. Cash enough?"

"I'm getting out of here," Mona said. She bolted out of the room, her teeth gritting together in anger. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one of the girls watching her.

"Hey," she said softly. "Shouldn't you be asleep?"

The girl came out of her hiding spot and approached Mona. "I couldn't sleep."

"I understand. Come on." She gently took the girl's hand and sat with her on one of the pews. "What's your name?"

"Shu."

"You seem to lead these girls. Do they follow you?"

"Most of them. We were supposed to leave Nanking, but my father never showed up to take us. I told him I would not leave without the others."

"I'm so sorry. If I could, I would get all of you out right now. You are all…so innocent. So young. It's hard to remember what it's like at that age."

"You are American?"

"Yeah."

"What you doing here in Nanking?"

"It's a long story."

"Do you wish you had not come?"

"Yes. And no. Right now, I wish I was home more than anything. But there are other things that have happened while I was here that I wouldn't give up for the world."

"Like what?"

Mona smiled sadly. "That's a story for another time."

"We are going to hold a candlelight circle. Would you like to join us?"

"I would love to."

Shu led her to a small room where all the girls had gathered together into a circle. A very small lone candle sat in the middle. Mona sat down next to the girls. They all began singing beautifully as they clasped their hands together. It was mesmerizing to watch them. Some of them started crying with fear, but they all continued to sing. Mona completely lost track of how long they sat in that circle singing together.

She eventually looked up and saw a soldier standing at the door. He wiped off a shoe and gently placed it down on the ground. She heard Shu gasp a little next to her, but the soldier quickly put his finger to his lips, not wanting her to cause panic amongst the others. Then he walked away, leaving the little shoe there for its owner to find.

Mona lightly touched Shu and gave her a small nod. Then she got up and went to the door and followed the soldier. When she got downstairs, she saw him talking with Mo.

Suddenly, a bottle smashed onto the ground. The soldier aimed his gun up, and John fell to the ground in an obvious drunken state. He had changed and was dressed in a priest's uniform. "Don't point a gun at a man of the cloth," he slurred. "Mo. Like me as a priest? Do you? I dressed up for you. I got a chance now?" Mo must've denied him what he wanted back in the room. Mona was relieved at that because that was the bed she was supposed to sleep in and she didn't want them in it.

John put another cigarette into his mouth much to Mona's dismay and started singing very poorly. The soldier and Mo began talking again in Chinese.

"What, the bank's closed for me, but he gets a special soldier discount or something?"

John started coming down the steps, still drunkenly singing, as the soldier turned to Mo and said something that sounded pretty serious. When John made it to the soldier, he tapped him a little and then went up to Mo.

"What's wrong with you?" Mo asked him shortly.

"I want to help you. I've joined the priesthood."

Mona was pretty sure he was going to collapse in a few seconds because he was so drunk. No one would catch him.

"Stop it," Mo said. "It's not the right time."

"You don't want cash. You want me to save you. I'm gonna save your soul." He put his hand to her face. "I'll absolve you of your sins tonight. Blessed are thee among women. Blessed are thy lips, blessed are thy eyes, blessed are thy hips."

Mo slapped his hand away. "Don't."

"And thy gams, and thy chest."

He slowly grabbed onto her and held her firmly.

"Stop it! Stop it!"

Mona and the soldier ran up to them and flung John off her. He landed onto the ground and looked at the soldier. "This is a house of love, not war. You get out of here."

"You've got real nerve to say that, seeing as you're as drunk as can be," Mona mumbled.

Mo and the soldier conversed some more and then the soldier finally left to fulfill his duties.

As he passed John on the ground, John let out a drunken moan that made Mona embarrassed _for_ him. Mo walked over to him. "See, I'm the only man for you," he said to her.

Mo started speaking to him in Chinese and lightly hit his face.

"I like it when you're angry. Harder. Harder." She got up to leave, but John tried to hold her back. She slapped him again and he moaned, "Oh! I love that! I love seeing you walk away! Mo!"

Mona left him lying on the ground and ran after Mo. "I am so sorry about that," Mona apologized. "Trust me, we aren't all that stupid."

"I know. I would like to apologize for coming into your room without your permission."

"Oh. Don't worry about that. It wasn't all your fault. John's just…well, a stupid man who needs to get his life together."

"I can tell you haven't slept much. Go up to your room and rest in your bed. I promise it's still unused."

"Thank you."

Perhaps these women weren't as bad as she initially thought.


	3. Invasion

Mona was awoken by the sounds of the girls and women yelling outside. She quickly got up and ran out to see what the problem was. John was passed out on the floor, no doubt trying to sleep off all his drunkenness from the previous night.

"Hey!" Mona screamed as she ran up to the group. "Stop! Stop!"

George came running up and helped her break up the fight. He started yelling in Chinese and then everyone started yelling at each other, and then the girl grabbed one of the women and started fighting with her again. Mona was about to go break them up again when a bullet shot through the stained glass and hit the girl right in the neck, spraying the woman she was fighting with blood. The girl fell to the ground motionless.

All the girls started screaming and panicking. Shu gave an order to George and they all started running downstairs. Mona had a feeling they were all going to go to the cellar to hide from the Japanese who must've fired the shot. She ran to the room where the girls were sleeping and saw them all screaming and throwing clothes on as multiple gunshots rang out from the courtyard.

"Come on!" she yelled. "Get to the cellar as quick as you can!" She urged all of the girls out of the room and ran with them downstairs. "Go!"

They were almost into the cellar when a Japanese soldier spotted them. Shu and Mona looked down a little and saw some of the women looking up at them in fear. The soldier called for one of his men and Mona and Shu took that time to push the girls through the door in the back so the Japanese didn't find the women. They all ran upstairs and hid in one of the rooms while Mona ran back to her own room and burst in.

"John!" she cried. He was finally awake, but he didn't look at top condition. He looked up at her with hardly any expression on his face. "There's Japanese soldiers in here. They're looking for the girls."

Loud screams and shouts were heard outside and Mona's heart sank as she realized that the soldiers must've found them.

"You have to do something!"

"Why don't you go do something?" he asked, the hangover still not completely gone from his head.

"Get it through your thick head and into your stupid, immature brain! If I go out there, they will rape and they will kill me! I may be American, but I'm still a woman and that's all they care about!"

John made no move and it didn't even look like he was listening to her.

"You know what, fine." She angrily turned to leave.

"What are you doing?" John asked.

"I'm going out there. And they're probably going to kill me, but somebody has to do something and it certainly isn't going to be you. I hope staying in here like a big coward is worth it."

Mona ran out of the room and looked at the sickening sight around her. Soldiers were chasing the girls in every direction and ripping their clothes when they caught them.

"Oh, Lord, help me," Mona whispered.

She bolted down the stairs and ran to a soldier that was attacking one of the girls and shoved him off.

"Get off of her!" she yelled.

The soldier looked at her angrily and hungrily at the same time. It made her extremely uneasy.

"You wanna do something to me?" she said trying to appear braver than she felt. Mona's heart hammered in her chest harder than it ever had only once before. She was terrified for her life.

"Stop! Stop!"

Mona looked at the top of the staircase and there stood John holding out a big banner with a red cross on it. She smiled a little in surprise at the fact that he had decided to help.

"Stop!" he yelled. "This is a house of the Lord! These are children! You are breaking the laws of man and of God!"

The soldiers stopped attacking the girls and looked up at John in shock. They hadn't realized a priest was in the cathedral.

"No soldiers here! You have no business being here! I am the priest! And I command you, in the name of the Father to leave now! Girls, you come up here now! Come up these stairs, and stand behind me."

Mona looked at the girl on the ground she had just saved. "Come on," she said as she took the girl's hand. Mona made sure all the girls got up the stairs and behind John.

"You're honorable men! Behave honorably!"

Mona stood next to John as she breathed heavily from running up and down the stairs and looked up at him. She sent him a small nod and he returned the action.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a gun cocked next to them. John and Mona stood in front of the girls protectively. They were all sobbing behind her and her heart ached for them. What kind of life was this for a child?

Another soldier came up and forced the first to lower his gun. Then he took out his sword and raised it above his head. Mona waited for what he was about to do, sure he was going to kill John.

Instead, he cut the banner from John's hands and it fell to the ground. Then he threatened the girls and they all went running in all different directions. Mona and John tried to grab onto some of them to protect them, but they were too scared to stay. The soldiers started attacking the girls once again and Mona was powerless to stop them. All around her, the girls were being dragged across the floor by their hair, their clothes were ripped open, and they furiously kicked and screamed, trying to get away from the soldiers.

John ran down the stairs and knocked a soldier off one of the girls. "Stop! Stop this! Stop this!"

Mona bolted down the steps to help the girls when a Japanese soldier stopped her and threw her back against the stairs. She hit the back of her head on one of the hard steps and saw stars for a second. When she looked back up at the soldier, she saw him quickly advancing on her. He grabbed her shoulders, so she swung her foot up and hit him in the crotch then punched him in the face and sent him toppling down the stairs. He said a slew of words at her that she was pretty sure were Japanese curse words, and went after another girl, apparently believing her to be too much trouble.

Mona saw John lying on the steps and he appeared to be unconscious. "John!" she said urgently. "John!" She got to the bottom and looked at the bleeding wound on his head where a soldier had struck him with his gun. "Look at me! Are you alright?"

Suddenly, a body fell next to her that made Mona scream in surprise. When she looked over, one of the girls had been flung down to the ground and died instantly when her head hit the hard floor. A massive pool of blood started forming under her and her hair was already soaked in it.

Mona slowly went over to the dead girl and touched her head. Her shaking hands came back to her drenched in bright red blood. Tears began sliding down her face at the sight. She saw John slowly coming over to the girl. He gently touched her lifeless hand and when Mona looked up at him, tears were coming down his face too. It shocked her to see him show such emotions.

Mona gently began rubbing the girl's hair despite the fact that it was covered in blood. Horrible memories were flooding back to her as she sat there letting the girl's drenched hair intertwine in her fingers.

Gunshots sounded and the soldiers ceased what they were doing. One of them blew a whistle and then they all ran out of the cathedral to follow their orders.

The rest of the girls came over to the body and began sobbing even harder. Some of them knelt down and gently touched their friend. Mona's heart broke when she saw the girls with the lifeless one on the ground.

She stood up to give them more room, seeing as they were closer to the girl, and looked at John. When she saw he was still bleeding, she ripped off a very small piece of her shirt and dabbed it on the wound on his head. They made eye contact for a second, but neither could withstand the pain in the others' eyes.

Suddenly, the doors to the cathedral opened and slammed shut and several more soldiers entered.

Mona wiped off her tears with the back of her hands, seeing as the front of them were still covered in the girl's blood, and she and John protectively held out their arms out a little in front of the girls who had all gathered at the bottom of the stairs.

John walked towards them, holding his hands out to get them to stay away from the girls. One of them looked over at the crying girls and the dead one on the floor.

"Were our soldiers here recently?" he asked John. John nodded a little, but remained silent. "Are you the resident priest?"

"Yes," John answered softly.

He looked over at Mona. "And are you his wife?"

John was about to say something, but Mona quickly stepped forward and stood beside him. "Uh, yes. I'm his wife."

"Forgive me, but I thought priests were not allowed to marry."

"Um, he married me before he joined the priesthood."

"I see. Father, ma'am, I apologize on behalf of our soldiers. Please understand. In the middle of a war, occasional unfortunate behavior is inevitable."

Mona had a few choice words to say to that remark, but she forced herself to stay silent. It would be unwise to anger these Japanese soldiers. But there was absolutely no excuse for men to come into a church and attempt to rape young girls. No excuse at all, and he shouldn't even have tried to make one.

"Your church is very beautiful," the soldier continued. He looked over at the girls. "How do you do? Are you students here at the convent? So sorry to have caused you alarm."

"Please," John said to him. "Don't hurt the children anymore."

"Naturally. My name is Hasegawa. I am responsible for the safety of this area. Please do not worry about the security of the church and the students."

"I apologize, but I have no confidence in that assurance."

"My guarantee is effective. From now on, I shall post armed guards in front of the church to protect you all."

More soldiers came in and placed sacks of potatoes in front of them.

"There is not a lot of food in Nanking at the moment," Hasegawa said. "I hope the students will not go hungry." He walked over to the organ. "May I?" He sat down on the bench and began to play it and sing along to whatever he was playing. While he seemed happy which made Mona comfortable enough, she would've felt a lot better if he left. He finally finished playing and sighed. "Thank you. Did you like it?"

John and Mona nodded a little to show their respect. Even though they didn't deserve any at all. Not after what had just happened.

"This is a Japanese folk song, 'My Home'. It is about hills and rabbits, and streams full of fish. It is the most beautiful song in the world for those who are homesick." He closed the organ and stood up. "Do the students sing well?"

"Very well, yes," John said hesitantly.

"That's good. I shall come back in a couple of days to hear them."

Mona heard some of the girls gasp in fear. She looked over at them and held her hand up in a way that the soldiers could not see and gave them a reassuring look that told them it would be okay.

"Why?" John asked.

"No reason. I happen to love music. Father, ma'am, we shall meet again soon."

He turned and left and the other soldiers followed suit. Mona released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Then she ran back over to the girls and gave them comforting hugs as they all continued to cry.


	4. Priest and Priest's Wife

John went back up to the bedroom and gathered up his tools. Mona went to go wash all the blood off her hands. As she scrubbed them clean, she felt a few tears prick her eyes as memories from before her time at the church came back to her once more.

Once she and John were emotionally ready, she helped him prepare both of the girls and he dressed them up so they looked as if they could be sleeping had they not been so pale. He tied pieces of fabric around their heads to shield the wounds they had received.

John carried out one of the girls while Mona carried out the other. They set the bodies down in a hole George had dug while John had fixed them up.

The girls gathered around to pay their respects and they began crying even more for the girls they once called their friends. John took both of the girls' hands and placed them over one another.

"I hope you will not be lonely buried together," he said softly.

Mona put her arm around Shu as tears fell down the girl's face. She felt so bad for these poor girls and just wanted to shield them all from the horrors that were happening outside the cathedral walls.

"Come on," she said softly. Mona began to lead the girls back into the cathedral while John took off his priest robes and he and George prepared to bury the two girls.

"Father John," Shu said as she turned around. John turned to look at her. "You won't leave us, will you?"

John looked at her, and it seemed like he was searching for something to say, but no words came.

"Come on," Mona said again. She followed behind all of the girls and they went back inside where they were met by all of the women. They said things to all the girls that Mona couldn't understand, but all of them looked miserable for the poor younger ones so they were probably saying apologies.

Mona returned to her room and crashed on the bed. Then she just began to cry into one of the pillows. She cried softly, not wanting any of the girls or women to worry about her, but she cried for a while. When she heard heavy footsteps, she quickly dried her eyes before anyone saw her. John came into the room with George behind him. They were both dirty from burying the girls and they looked both looked exhausted physically and emotionally.

John sat down on the couch as Mona slowly got up from the bed and walked over to where she was standing behind the couch. Her hair must've looked absolutely terrible from all the running around, so she took out her bun and tied her hair up into a ponytail. Again, some of it fell out of the hair tie.

"Why not answer Shu?" George asked.

"She called me Father John," John answered.

"We all need you."

"I'm a mortician."

"You are priest."

"No."

"If we have a priest, maybe Japanese not dare…You are priest!"

"George, I'm not. I'm not a priest. I'm not!"

"I'm not a priest's wife," Mona said to John. "But I will be if it helps the girls."

"No, I can't. I stayed here because I was looking for your cash. And because this is the nicest place that I've slept in in years even though I'm sleeping on a couch. I didn't get there. But is that like a priest? I'm not a priest! I'm not. I took catechism lessons as a kid. Sometimes I remember that when I'm drunk, which I am as often as I can be."

George looked at him. "You not be priest, tell girls yourself."

He looked at the picture on the mantle and turned it back around. John made no move to stop him. Mona looked at George and nodded a little to which he nodded back.

"You little twit!" John said as he laughed drunkenly. "You are!"

Mona looked at George sadly as he left. Her jaw clenched as she looked back over at John. She stormed over to him and grabbed the bottle he was drinking from and chucked it out the window where it fell with a satisfying smash below. Then she walked back over to him and slapped him hard on the face.

"God forgive me because I just did that in a church, but I am sick and tired of your inappropriate behavior!" she yelled. "Just when I think that maybe you have a heart, you go and say those things. George has done nothing to you and you have no right to call him names after what he just went through. And so what if Shu called you Father John? You are probably the first ray of light these girls have seen since this whole mess started. You're the way they can get out of here and away from the awful things happening." She took a seat next to him on the couch. "I saw the way you reacted to what those soldiers were doing. And I saw the tears you shed for that poor girl. It's okay to let people see that you actually care." She stood back up to face him, and crossed her arms over her chest. "But if you're going to leave, do it now. Do _not_ get these girls' hopes up."

John looked at her and said nothing. He just left the room and went down below to sit on the pews. Mona stayed in the room and thought about those girls in the room not far from where she was. At their age, she was a carefree child with a loving mother and father. These girls were scared to death trying not to get raped by soldiers. It was revolting to her.

Hours passed and John remained on one of the pews. When Mona looked out at him, he was passed out, probably from all the drink he had consumed earlier. He didn't look like he was in a very comfortable position and it was late, so she went downstairs to wake him and get him to the couch in her room. She may not have wanted him there, but she wanted to show that she still had some decency in her.

She heard the click of heels behind her and turned to find Mo walking up to her and John.

"Hi," Mona said quietly.

Mo paused a little before saying, "We've heard about what happen today."

She spoke loud enough for John to snap out of his drunken state and sit up onto the pew.

"Welcome back," Mona muttered.

"So you're staying?" Mo asked him.

"Yeah," John answered.

"Even though were a drunk brute last night, what you both did today makes you heroes."

Mona looked at her sadly. "We couldn't save all of them."

There was a bit of silence between them all as they thought back over the unfortunate incidents that had occurred.

"I'm sorry about last night," John finally said. "I can't leave them by themselves. And that little…"

John looked over at Mona and saw her glaring fiercely at him, daring him to finish that sentence.

"…boy," he finished cautiously, "and this lady here have a way of just…You know."

Mona smiled a little as she realized that her outburst earlier had actually worked on him.

"What do you think the Japanese are up to?" Mo asked. "Are they really here to protect the students?"

The silence that followed gave them the answer they already knew.

"We were counting on having you help us leave Nanking, but I guess now you'll have to  
stay here and be a priest and a priest's wife."

"Yeah, right," John mumbled. "Priest."

"Actually, I came to tell you, our offer is still good. We still want you to help us escape. As soon as the Japanese guards are gone. Just now the ladies were having a bet. They said that hero or no hero, you don't stand a chance when you're up against a beauty like me."

"Don't flatter yourself."

"We'll see."

Mo walked away and John blew a puff of air out through his cheeks as he thought about what to do next.

"You know," Mona said softly. "You can come back up and sleep on the couch. You don't have to sleep on these hard benches."

"I guess I just thought that after today, you'd want me out."

"Believe me, if that was the case, I would've kicked you out the second you stepped into that room." She slowly took a seat next to him. "Priest's wife, huh?" she sighed.

John laughed a little. "Didn't see that coming, did you?"

"I know you probably weren't expecting that, but I thought that if the Japanese believed I was a priest's wife, they wouldn't touch me, and in turn, I could keep them from touching the girls."

"That was…really brave, what you did earlier. Going out and shoving that soldier and punching the other one."

"That was brave of you to come out and yell at all of them. But I have to say I was scared to death of what they were going to do to me. If you hadn't come in to save the day, I can't say what would've happened. So I guess…thank you."

"What was that?" he asked putting his hand to his ear.

Mona rolled her eyes and smiled. "I said thank you."

"Now was that so hard?"

"Don't push it. Now come on. We both need to get some well-earned sleep."

Mona and John headed back upstairs to Mona's room and crashed down to finally rest after a very emotionally traumatizing day.


	5. Hard Work

The next day, Mona was making her bed when she heard a small commotion downstairs. It didn't seem as bad as the day before which she was thankful for. She didn't think her heart could take another incident like yesterday.

She slowly left the room and saw all the girls watching something below. When she approached the railing, she saw Shu talking to an older man. By the looks of it, it had to be her father.

They were conversing in Chinese, and Shu didn't look too happy with what he was saying to her. She furiously reached into his pocket and pulled out a miniature Japanese fabric flag. Mona gasped a little, wondering why Shu's father seemed to be working for the Japanese. Shu yelled at him for a little bit then threw the fabric on the ground and stood up to leave. He grabbed her arm and started talking to her again. He seemed to be begging with her, and she looked ready to burst into tears. She finally wrenched her arm out of his grasp and ran up the stairs where she was faced with the very angry faces from the other girls.

One of the girls said something, and from the tone of her voice, they weren't kind words. Shu turned around and ran out the door in tears.

"Shu!" Mona called. She ran after her and caught up with the girl who was sitting against the wall, sobbing into her hands.

"They hate me," she cried to Mona.

"No, they don't," Mona said tenderly as she sat down and took Shu into her arms. "They don't hate you. They're just…scared. And when people are scared, sometimes they say things they don't mean."

"I didn't mean for this to happen."

"I know. It's okay. You did what you thought was best. I admire you for looking after your friends and refusing to leave without them. That's what makes a great leader."

"Then why are they angry?"

"Because…after what happened yesterday, they're afraid of what's going to happen to them. They just want to get out of Nanking, and when things didn't go according to plan, they didn't know what to do anymore. Shu, I know that this wasn't you wanted, and it's not what I want for you either. But you have to stay strong, even though they're angry. They're still going to follow your lead because they trust you."

"How can they trust me? My father betrayed me and our country. He's working for the Japanese!"

"Sometimes parents do stupid things to protect who they love. Don't you worry. Just give them some space for a little while and then let them come to you."

"Thank you, Mona."

"You're welcome."

* * *

John came in and out of the cathedral all day and it wasn't until the evening that she saw he was working on the broken down truck parked outside the church. She quietly headed outside and over to him and George.

"Need a hand?" she asked.

John looked over at her, seemingly surprised by the fact that she was out here. "Sure, help me push down on this."

"No problem."

Together, Mona and John pushed down on a pipe so he could fix the tires on the truck.

"How do you plan on fixing this?" Mona asked. "Don't you need proper tools?"

"Shu's father came by earlier. He should be able to sneak them in to me. Then I can fix this thing. I'll also need to get a permit so I can drive us out of here."

Mona was more than surprised at his willingness to fix the truck. Apparently, the events from yesterday had changed everyone.

"Let's head back inside for now," she said to him. "Hopefully tomorrow, you'll have your tools and can get working on it."

John started lighting a cigarette again, but Mona looked at him sharply.

"What?" he asked.

"Do you really want to do that? You know what's going to happen, don't you?"

John looked at her for a second then stamped the cigarette onto the ground.

"Good choice."

George went back in and headed to his own sleeping quarters while Mona and John began to head back up to Mona's room.

"Even if you fix the truck," Mo's voice called out to them, "how would you get past the Japanese guards?"

"I don't know," John admitted. "I don't know how long the guards will stay here. But I want to get that truck started for when they leave."

"It seems that you know more than just drinking."

"We're all shocked," Mona joked.

There was a small noise and all three of them looked up to find Shu watching them. John looked at her almost sadly as she ran off once she realized she had been caught.

Mona chuckled lightly. "That girl never seems to sleep."

"I don't think she likes seeing us together with John," Mo said. "She has a crush on you."

"Really?" John laughed.

"You know, I was like her."

"Yeah?"

"I was at a convent for six years."

"That's where you learned your English?"

A tear dripped down Mo's cheek as she became lost in the memory of what life she had as a child. Immediately, Mona felt extremely sorry for every rude thought she had about her and the rest of the women.

"What happened?" John asked when she didn't say anything.

"Just another story of misfortune. It wouldn't interest passer-bys like yourselves."

"Yeah, it would. Tell us."

Another tear rolled down her cheek.

"Tell us," he said again.

Mo turned to face the two of them. "I was never meant to be like this. Never mind. You know what? I was the best in my English class, but everyone used to mock me. They said I put on airs and graces and acted like I was the Queen of England."

Mona sighed. She hadn't realized that these women, or at least Mo, had been through such rough times before this life they had chosen. Or more likely, had been forced into.

"Well, that's not what you were going to tell us, but…" John said. He didn't seem to know how to handle a situation like this. "So…the Queen of England. You mean you're not? I thought…yeah."

"Like Shu, I too had a crush on someone. But he was a young, fresh-faced guy, got the most beautiful eyes. Not a dirty, bearded man like you."

Mona laughed lightly at that comment and John lost his smile. Mo smiled at him warmly.

"Okay," John said awkwardly. He turned and went up the stairs to head to his little couch.

"Mona," Mo said to her. "Thank you for all you're doing for us. You're helping the girls and helping us too."

"I'm glad you can say that. I'm trying my hardest, but…I've been subjected to more horrors in the last few years than anyone should ever have to face."

"I know."

"Oh…I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I—"

"Mona. It's okay. It's not a matter of who's had it worse. We both just have different stories to tell."

"I'm guessing neither of us want to share."

"You're right."

Mona smiled a little. "You're a good woman, Mo."

"So are you."

Mona lightly touched her hand then headed upstairs. When she walked into the room, John was still moving about, but she was exhausted and crashed into her bed without another thought.

At one point, Mona stirred a little because of a small noise. When she looked over, she saw John standing in front of the mirror with a small light on, but she couldn't make out what exactly he was doing. Still tired, she drifted off to sleep once more.

* * *

"Mona."

Mona opened her eyes at the sound of her name. It must've been really early in the morning because the sky was a very light gray as the sun tried to rise its way up into the sky.

"I need some help," John said to her.

"Alright," she said drowsily. "With what?"

"Down in the cellar."

She threw off the covers and stood up. Her eyebrows raised a little as she realized that John had shaved off his beard! It took years off his face and made him look so much younger. And though she tried to deny it, he did look kind of attractive now.

She'd have to thank Mo later for getting him, in her own unique way, to shave.

She and John went downstairs and Mona saw the very, very pale body of a young boy who by the looks of it had been a soldier. He couldn't have been much older than any of the girls here. There was a huge nauseating gash on his leg that was severely infected and it had to have been the reason he was no longer alive.

She had no idea where he had come from or how he had gotten into the cellar, but it was a bit late for those kinds of questions. All that mattered now was sending him off properly.

Mona helped John get the boy onto some boards and then she sat next to him as he did his work. It was silent in the cellar as he made the boy look better. Not even one of the women said a word.

George held the lamp for him and Mona handed him the tools he asked for. After a couple hours, he finally finished working on him and motioned for them to come over.

Mona was very impressed with how well John fixed the boy up. He had gotten rid of the deathly hue and made it look almost like he was simply sleeping.

Mona, George, and John took up the boards and gently carried the boy out to the courtyard. John dug a hole for him and then the three of them lowered the boy down into it. Mona softly kissed his head, and whispered, "Thank you for your service."

Mona helped him bury the boy and she had no idea how John made a living out of such depressing work.

"John?" she said.

"Hmm?"

"Just…how do you do this kind of work? Isn't it…emotionally draining?"

"Yes, but it's good because it gives the family and loved ones peace."

From the way he said that, it sounded like there was more to it than that. But she didn't pry because she knew better than to get ask too much about someone else's life. Due to experience, she knew there were some things that were better left unsaid.

They finished burying the boy and headed back in. When they came through the doors, the women and girls, who must've been watching from the window, ran up to them with panicked expressions on their faces.

"What happened?" John asked with such concern in his voice that it surprised Mona.

"Dou and Lan snuck out on their own," Mo answered trying to fight back tears.

This was bad. Two beautiful girls alone on the war-torn streets of Nanking where Japanese soldiers sat in waiting? No good could come from this.

"Dou and Lan? How? How did they leave?"

"I don't know."

"You know when?"

"No."

"Where did they go?"

"They went back to our brothel to get pipa strings."

There was silence in the room as the women looked to John expectantly and Mona knew exactly what they wanted. By the look on his face, she could tell he did too.

"You want me to…go find them?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Mo, I'm not sure—"

"Please," Mo begged. "Please. Please."

John looked over at Mona, but she looked away not wanting him to gather any information from the expression on her face. She didn't want John to go out there, but someone had to go after those girls.

"Alright," he finally said. "It's safer for me than anyone else, so I'll try. I'll try. If I can leave. If they let me leave."

John went back up to Mona's room to get his priest garments so he could leave the church. Mona followed him and when she walked in, he was putting the garments on.

"John," she said as she went over and helped him straighten out the garments. "Please, just…be careful."

"Concerned about me, are you?"

"You may have been rude and as Mo said, 'a drunk brute', but yes, I am concerned. But I'm more concerned for those women. I've seen what those Japanese will do, and I'm terrified for them. I want you to find them, but…don't get killed yourself."

"The Japanese won't touch me. I promise. I'll do everything I can."

They exited the room and went down the stairs to the church entrance. George followed him out, but all the females stayed inside the doors and watched the two males leave the protection of the church walls.

"Is he going to be okay?" Shu asked Mona.

Mona put her arm around the girl. "He's going to be fine."

She meant those words, but she couldn't ignore the fierce beating of her nervous heart.


	6. Bad Dream

Each second felt like an eternity. The girls and the women had gone about the cathedral, but Mona stayed by the door, pacing back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. She bit her nails repeatedly until there was nothing left to bite.

She could feel eyes on her and she knew that several of the girls and the women were watching her nervous state. But she couldn't focus on that because as more time passed, she became more and more worried.

Finally, the doors opened and John and George walked in.

"John!" Mona gasped. She ran over to him and threw her arms around his neck. Both of them were surprised by her reaction, but neither said anything about it. "George!" she said as she hugged the young boy. "You're both okay! Where are the women?"

It was then she finally noticed the grim expressions on both of their faces. John said nothing to her and her heart broke as she realized that those women would not ever return to the cathedral.

Mona followed John to the kitchen where the remaining women were anxiously awaiting for his return. They walked in and the women all ran up to them to hear what had happened. When they did not see Dou or Lan, it became clear to them that only bad news was coming.

John held out his hand and Mona saw the pipa strings that they had been going to retrieve. They were covered in blood.

"They were on their way back," he said sadly.

Mo took the bloody strings from John with shaking hands.

"It was a stray bullet or…maybe…I don't know," John explained. "I don't think they suffered. I don't think so."

"Is that true?" Mo choked out.

"Yes."

Mo explained to the other women in Chinese what John had told her. They all began sobbing and crying for their friends.

Mona went up to Mo and hugged her tightly. She looked at the others reassuringly and tried to silently let them know that she was there for them in this dark time.

Eventually, Mona went back up to her room and John came in soon after.

Mona looked up at him with tears pooling in her eyes. "It wasn't a stray bullet, was it?" she asked softly.

John looked and her and put his head down, avoiding her eyes. "No," he admitted.

"They did suffer, didn't they?"

He slowly nodded his head, still refusing to look at her. "Mona…" he finally said.

"What?"

"I saw a guy I knew from the refuge while I was looking for the women. Terry."

Mona looked at him, wondering where he was going with this.

"He was leaving Nanking. He told me there was a boat waiting for them. He told me to come with him. And for a minute…I thought about it and I almost did. I wanted to get on that boat with him and leave Nanking and all the nightmares with it. I didn't want to have to be responsible for all these lives anymore. I just wanted to get out and leave with him."

Mona went over to him and she was quite surprised that he wore such a guilty expression on his face. She gently put her hand on his. "But you didn't."

John looked over at her encouraging face. She really had been nothing but helpful this whole time they were trapped in the church.

"You didn't leave, and you came back to the cathedral."

There was an awkward silence that followed her words. Neither could think of anything else to say.

John poured himself a drink and began to gulp it down. Under normal circumstances, Mona would've taken it away from him, but she thought about the horrors he must have seen out on the streets and could only imagine the state he had found those girls in. So this one time, she decided to let it slide.

He was leaning on the end of the bed with his hand on his head trying to block out the awful images when a knock sounded on the door.

"Come in," John called. No one came through the door. "George. Come in. George."

The door opened and Shu's father stepped through. "It's me," he said quietly. He looked over at Mona. "Who are you?"

She walked over to him and shook his hand. "I'm Mona. I'm…" She looked over at John, deciding what to tell him. "…his wife," she finished. This man may be Chinese, but he was still working for the Japanese, and the more people who believed she was a priest's wife, the better.

John stood up to face him.

"I only have two minutes," the man said quickly. "The guards finally let me in." He reached into his jacket and pulled out all kinds of tools that John needed. "These tools you need."

"Thank you," John whispered.

"Now, listen to me." He pulled out a piece of cloth with Japanese writing on it. "This permit was for my daughter."

"Right."

"But I can't carry out my plan. You are my only hope now. The Japanese don't trust me anymore. You are a Westerner. You can help her. My daughter wouldn't leave without her classmates. Please think of a way to get her out of Nanking. The permit is only good for a short time. When you manage to leave the church, remember, head west. There's a way out of the city there. I have to go." He headed for the door.

"Thank you, Mr. Meng. Mr. Meng, thank you. Mr. Meng, with your connections, is there anything else you can do for us?"

"No, no, sorry. John, Mona, I'm handing my daughter over to you. I have promised her mother, I'll take good care of her."

"Okay."

"Please."

"She's in good hands here," Mona told him gently. "We'll look after her, I promise. She reminds me of…" Mona stopped, and pondered telling him the truth. But it wasn't the right time. "…someone I used to know and love. I'll take care of her."

Mr. Meng nodded towards her in appreciation.

"Mr. Meng, thank you," John said. "Thank you for this. You are a good man."

"In the eyes of my daughter, I'm a bad man, a traitor."

"I explained to her your actions," Mona said. "She may understand a little better now. And no matter what, you are still her father and she loves you."

"Thank you," John said again. He shut the door behind him as he left. John went over to the table and looked at all the tools.

"Will it be enough?" Mona asked coming to stand next to him.

"It has to be. Come on, help me carry these out and then you and George can help fix the truck."

He and Mona carried all the tools outside and with George's help, they began fixing up the truck so they could drive away. They had to work in complete silence because of the Japanese soldiers standing guard outside the cathedral walls. If they heard anything, they might come inside and if they saw them fixing the truck, things would not go very well for them.

When Mona headed back inside, she saw Shu standing by the window, evidently having watched them work.

"Shu, you really need to get some sleep," Mona said gently.

"Sleep is hard."

"I know, but just try. I'm going to go get some sleep myself."

"Okay."

Mona parted with the girl and collapsed into her bed, exhausted from working on the truck for hours. It didn't take long for her to fall into a deep sleep.

She was awoken some time later by the sound of someone saying her name. When she opened her eyes, she saw Shu standing next to her bed.

"Shu," she said, sitting up a little. "Is everything okay?"

"I had…bad dream."

"Oh," Mona said sympathetically. "Come on."

Mona lifted up the blankets and scooted over a little. Shu came into the bed and lied down next to her. Mona put the blanket over her and started gently rubbing her hair with her hands.

"Think of nice things," she whispered to the girl.

John came into the room not long after, doing his best to be quiet as he knew that Mona was asleep. When he looked over at the bed, he smiled at the sight of Shu in the bed with her, Mona's arm wrapped protectively around her. They looked so peaceful, like mother and daughter. He knew that Shu had a hard time sleeping, so seeing her like that was a beautiful sight to him.


	7. Hasegawa's Orders

When Mona awoke, Shu was no longer next to her and judging by the temperature of the bed, she had been gone for a while. Mona got up and fixed her ponytail. She was still tired, but the soldiers were coming soon to listen to the girls and she and John had to be ready.

Mona went to the girls' room and found them all getting dressed for their performance. A lot of them looked on the verge of tears.

"Alright, girls!" she said as she began helping a couple of them with their clothes. "Don't worry about a thing. John and I are going to do everything we can to make sure you are okay. We will not let these soldiers do anything, I promise you that. You are just going to sing for them like Hasegawa asked, and we'll handle everything else."

The girls followed Mona downstairs and stood on the altar steps in two lines of six. She was making sure they were all in place when George joined her along with John who had dressed in his priest garments.

Hasegawa and some other soldiers entered the church and the girls noticeably tensed. Mona gave them a small smile to try to get them to relax, but she was feeling quite nervous too.

"I see that the students are ready," he said.

John nodded to him and he and Mona stood together to the side. The girls began singing a beautiful choral song for the soldiers sitting in the pews.

When the song concluded, John and Mona smiled at them. Hasegawa and the other soldiers stood up and politely applauded them.

Hasegawa came up to the two of them. "Good," he said to the girls. "You sing very well."

 _Alright,_ Mona thought. _They've heard the song, now they can leave and we can escape this place._

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

One of the women ran out after her small white cat escaped from her arms, and Mona's heart began pounding loudly in her chest. If the Japanese found out they were housing more women, she didn't want to think about what they would do to her and John and to all of the women.

All of the girls looked at Hasegawa nervously.

It was Shu who decided to act. She turned to the woman and said something sharply to her in Chinese. Then she turned back to Hasegawa. "Officer, this student has lost her uniform. Because we wanted to look our best today, we asked her not to participate in the performance. Please forgive the intrusion."

Mona and John made eye contact and smiled a little at each other. Then Mona turned to Shu and gave her a very small nod of approval.

Shu pulled the woman next to her rather roughly and she joined the line.

Hasegawa turned to the two Americans. "Father, ma'am, I would like to announce some good news. Tomorrow our division is celebrating the successful occupation of Nanking. Esteemed Father, ma'am, on behalf of all the officers, I would like to invite your church choir to perform and celebrate with us."

Mona's heart began beating fiercely again. It wasn't hard to figure out what those soldiers were going to do to those poor girls at this party. They certainly weren't just going to listen to them sing.

One of the soldiers came up to John and handed him an envelope.

"This is the official invitation," Hasegawa explained.

John opened the envelope and pulled out the piece of paper inside with Japanese writing on it. "This is a very kind invitation, Mr. Hasegawa," John said politely. "However, unfortunately, the children will not be able to attend."

"Why not?" Hasegawa asked in a tone that put Mona even more on edge.

"Sir, they're very young. I'm not sure that it is appropriate for them to attend an adults' party. As their guardians and protectors, that's our responsibility. But we thank you very much."

"I am sorry. This is an order from above. I cannot disobey."

"Sir," John said, stepping a little closer to him. "Please think about the girls. I can see that you are a man of culture. Last time you played us a beautiful song for people far from home. You missed the rivers and hills. Please consider that theirs have been destroyed. They have no home, nothing. They are living in hell. With this invitation, you are asking them to celebrate that. I know that you understand. With respect, sir, I cannot allow that. I think that is…I think that is brutal, sir."

Mona was very surprised at all of that. She had no idea John was capable of that kind of speech. With each passing moment, he seemed to surprise her more and more.

Hasegawa stared him down for a few seconds. "Please remember, tomorrow at four in the afternoon, a car will come to pick up the students. I am carrying out military orders."

Mona's breath hitched in her throat and she closed her eyes for a second, willing this to not be happening.

"Mr. Hasegawa," John said quietly. "You tell me what will happen at these celebrations."

Hasegawa said nothing, but turned and started to walk out of the church.

"Mr. Hasegawa. Mr. Hasegawa!" John called as he ran after him and grabbed his arm. "You said you posted guards for our security. Have you been keeping these girls locked up until these celebrations?" The silence that followed gave Mona the answer that filled her with rage. "The children cannot go," John added firmly.

Hasegawa started to leave once more along with the rest of the soldiers.

"Mr. Hasegawa. Mr. Hasegawa!" John called. A soldier stopped him from following Hasegawa any further. "The children cannot go! The children cannot go!"

The soldier pushed past John and went up to the girls. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, night, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen," he counted the girls, including the one woman. "All must go!" he shouted.

The soldiers left and Mona wanted to just scream out her frustrations. She had not harbored such hate for people in a long time.

John slowly walked back to the girls.

"Father John," one of the girls said with tears slowly spilling from her eyes. "What do the Japanese want us to do? Do they want us to sing?"

"Yeah," John said with a small smile, trying to mask his worries for them.

The woman said something in Chinese and left from the group. George started yelling something at her and the woman began crying. Then she started yelling something at all the girls as multiple tears slid from her eyes. Mona watched as the rest of the women slowly came into the room.

John went over to George and he quietly translated in his ear. Mona was able to pick up some of it, and she didn't like what she heard. This woman was screaming at them about what really went on at those parties, and that was the last thing those girls needed to hear. Mona quickly went over to the sobbing woman and pulled her into a small hug.

"Shh, shh," she said quietly. "You're scaring them."

The woman started shouting again before Mo said something to her sharply. The poor woman yelled a little more then ran out of the room in hysterics.

Mona put her hand over her eyes in frustration. The girls tearfully looked to John and Mona. John turned to face them.

"That's not true what she said," he told them tenderly. "These men are different from the others. These men are educated. They are officers. These men are gentlemen. I've been to things like these before, and…it's nice. It's elegant, it's a…it's a party. There's nice things at parties. There's cakes and there's flowers and there's chocolates and there's dancing…and there's…all of these things, which are lovely. Please don't think about what she said." It sounded like he was trying very hard to not break down in front of them, which broke Mona's heart. He really cared about these girls. "I'm a terrible dancer," he laughed as he continued, "and maybe one day, one of you could teach me how to dance. That would be nice. Please don't think about that. Because that's not true."

As Mona looked out at the girls, she saw tears forming in their eyes from fear which made tears pool up in her own eyes. But she forced them back, trying to appear strong to them. They needed that right now, so she fought the tears threatening to pour down.

"John's right," Mona said with a small smile. "Parties are fun. There's all sorts of good things there. You're going to go, and you're going to sing for those nice young men. It will be fine. Why don't you go and get ready for tomorrow?"

The girls tearfully dispersed and went back to their room.

John removed his priest robes and laid them on one of the pews, then sat on the steps where the girls had previously stood. Mona paced back and forth as she tried to force back tears.

She finally turned to John. "John, we cannot let those girls go to that thing. We both know what will happen if they do. I will not allow them to be abused anymore."

John's hands remained clasped together and pressed against his mouth. "What are we supposed to do?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know," Mona admitted. "I just don't know."

The familiar click of heels alerted the both of them to Mo's presence. She slowly walked over to them and there was an awkward silence for a time.

"I…lied to you as well," John admitted to her. "Your two friends who went for the pipa strings, they weren't shot. I'm sorry. I think you already knew."

"Yes," she answered quietly. "Sometimes, the truth is the last thing we need to hear."

Mo slowly took a seat next to John on the steps and Mona stood across from both of them.

"I heard what you both said to the girls," Mo said. "What are you gonna do?"

"I gotta get the truck started," John told her.

"And after that?"

Neither John nor Mona answered her, both of them unable to come up with a viable answer for her.

"I have an idea," she said. "Maybe I can save one of them, with your help."

"How?" John asked.

"The Japanese thought Mosquito was one of the girls. She tricked them. Why can't I?"

"No," he said firmly. "If you're saying what I think you're saying, no. That's not happening."

"Why should any of you have to go?" Mona said angrily. "It's…inhumane. It's cruel. And no one should be forced to endure what those soldiers have in mind. Mo, we can't let you put yourself through that."

"Remember?" she said quietly with nothing but compassion in her eyes. "Like them, I was at a convent for six years. But unlike them, I was raped by my stepfather when I was thirteen years old. By their age, I was already forced to take my first clients. I don't want them to go through that."

"But we can't let you do that, Mo," John pleaded. "We can't let you do that."

Mona was shocked at Mo's confession of what happened to her as a child. Again, she felt immense guilt for all the rude things she had thought about them. Everyone had rough times, but she just wished that she had known that when she first got here.


	8. Mona's Past

Mona returned to her room and just sat against the bed, hugging her knees to her chest as her mind raced at a thousand miles an hour.

John later came in with his priest robes back on. Mona stood up and helped him take them off again. Then she slowly sat on the couch as John went to the window.

"They're guarding this place heavily," he said to her. "Now even I can't leave." He looked over at Mona and saw the tears forming in her eyes. "Hey, it's going to be alright."

"No, it's not," Mona said hardly. "You can lie to those women and you can lie to those girls, but don't lie to me. It's not going to be alright. Someone is going to have to go to that stupid Japanese 'party', and it doesn't take much to figure out what they're going to do to whoever does end up going."

John looked at her sadly. "Mona…"

"John, I just…I…" There were so many things Mona wanted to tell him in that moment. She wanted to tell him all about what had happened to her before she found refuge in the cathedral. She wanted to tell him why she felt so protective of these girls. But she just couldn't seem to get the words out. If she told him her story, it made it real and she didn't think she was ready for that.

Mona quickly left the room and went downstairs to sit on the pews. She felt a few tears leave her eyes as she sat there thinking about the absolutely miserable situation she had been forced into.

Eventually, she heard multiple footsteps and she looked up to find the girls advancing towards the bell tower. She wondered why all twelve of them were going up at the same time and why it was the bell tower they were going to. A horrified look crossed her face as she put together why they were all going up there together.

They were intending to jump to their deaths so they wouldn't have to face the horrors the Japanese were going to put them through when they were forced to go to the event.

Mona sprinted to the cellar and pounded on the door. "Mo!" she cried. "Mo!"

The door opened and Mona found herself looking at multiple women.

"Come quick!" she said urgently. "All of you! It's the girls!"

All of the women rushed out of the cellar and followed Mona upstairs. She burst into her room where John was.

"John! It's the girls! They've gone up to the bell tower. I think they're going to jump!"

John bolted up and they all ran up to the bell tower where the girls were. Most of them were standing on the railing and one misstep would send them to their deaths.

"Girls. Shu!" John called. "Wait, just—"

"Go away!" Shu ordered.

"Come down! Okay, okay. Stay back, okay." He gently held his arms out so none of the women would step forward and cause the girls to jump.

Mo said something in Chinese to Shu, then George, who was at the bottom, also begged her not to jump.

John began to step forward again, but Shu said harshly, "Keep away! Step back!"

"Okay," John said calmly. "We're stepping back. We're stepping back."

Shu ordered the other girls to step up onto the railing.

"Shu!" Mona said taking a barely noticeable step forward. "Listen to me. I was a mom once."

When she uttered those words, she felt all eyes bore into her core as they were shocked by her unexpected five-word confession. She was always searching for the right time to tell someone her story and this seemed like a better time than any.

"And when you become a parent, the first thing you learn is that you will do anything to protect your child," she continued. "Right now, I feel like a mother to all of you girls. Which means that I will do anything I can to protect you. I promise."

Mo began speaking to her again in Chinese. Mona couldn't understand what she was saying, but it got Shu's attention. One of the girls lost her balance and nearly fell from the very tall height they were at. Everyone gasped, but the girl managed to stay atop the tower.

More of the women began speaking urgently to them.

"We're telling them the idea I told you about," Mo whispered to Mona and John.

"It's a good idea," John said quietly. "That's it, girls. Shu, come here, it's a good idea. It's a good idea. We can trick the Japanese. Alright? We'll make it fun. Come down, we think about it. We just come down, and think about it. We can make it work."

Some of the girls slowly began to descend from the railing. John, Mona, and the rest of the women rushed forward and grabbed them all away from the dangerous perch they had put themselves in and brought them back to safety.

Mona ran right for Shu and wrapped her arms around the girl's waist, bringing her back down. Once Shu's feet were back on the ground in the tower, Mona hugged her tightly and didn't let go for a while. Her hand rubbed the back of her head as she clung onto the girl. She could feel Shu's hands digging into her back, holding onto her as if she would lose Mona forever if she let go.

"You're going to be okay," she whispered.

Finally, they went back down the stairs and all the girls congregated in their room.

Mona was about to go inside when John lightly touched her arm. She slowly turned to face him, completely aware of what he wanted to say.

"You had a child?" he asked.

She nodded. "I've been living here for a while now. Why and how isn't important, but there was one day when I found a little girl on the streets who couldn't have been more than four. I took her in to live with me and began raising her. It may not have been legally, but for all intents and purposes, she was my daughter. I had never loved anyone so much in my entire life." She closed her eyes as she tried to block out the horrible memory that followed. "But then the Japanese invaded. And they took her from me. I'd rather not say what they did to her." She looked at him as a tear ran down her face. "Why do you think I'm so protective of these girls? Because I don't want them to have to go through the same things the Japanese put my own daughter through."

John looked at the pain etched on her face as a couple more tears made their way down her cheeks. He brought his hand up and lightly wiped away one of her tears. He meant to take his hand away, but it continued to rest on her cheek. Her skin felt so soft under his fingers. It hurt him to see the pain in her eyes that hadn't left since the first second he saw her outside the cathedral walls. Now it made sense to him why that pain was there.

They met eyes briefly, but Mona quickly looked away and went into the room the girls were in. John sighed and followed her in. All of the girls were sitting on two of the beds, so Mona and John sat side by side on one of the beds opposite them.

"If they went, how would the Japanese treat them?" Shu asked the two adults.

"Will they tear their clothes?" one girl asked.

"Will they beat them?" another said.

"What if the Japanese rape them?" Shu said.

"Are you kidding?" John laughed lightly. "No. Have you seen these women? Those Japanese don't stand a chance. These women…these women are formidable. Brave, exquisite, skillful. They've got character, like nobody I've ever met. The Japanese? Pfft, they're amateurs, amateurs. These women, they are professionals."

Mona looked at all the girls hugging each other as silent tears dripped down their faces. This was no life for young girls.

"Father John," one of the girls asked. "What exactly do they do?"

John paused and searched for the right words. "You know…they…they love and they hate, just like all of us. Maybe they know more about it than any of us. These women if they came face to face with the devil himself, he'd be putty in their hands. These idiots? These soldiers? You think they're scary? They're not scary. If you think somebody's scary, you picture them with their pants around their ankles, sitting on the crapper, alright? Picture that."

Mona laughed lightly along with him at his poor attempts to cheer them all up.

"Not so scary then. These women, and you girls, you got a strength and beauty that will never die."

Mona looked over at him and in that moment, she realized just how much he had changed since the first night he stayed here. He cared about these girls and he saw things in a new light.

"So don't you worry about them. Don't worry about them."

"But…but they don't look anything like us," another one of the girls said. "How can they go?"

"Hmm. That's where my powers come in," John smiled. "I don't do much very well. But that, that I do well. And I'll make them look like your twins. You'll see."

Shu slowly stood up and walked to the other side of John. "Father John, I was wrong. I'm sorry," she said tearfully.

"Shu, you don't have to be sorry," John said tenderly. "You don't have to be sorry."

"No, I was wrong."

"What is it?"

"From the first day she came here, I felt uncomfortable. I thought she was not good. I even thought both of you were not good."

"That's okay."

"I want to say to her, sorry. And say to you, I'm sorry."

"You don't have to say you're sorry. You got nothing to be sorry about."

Shu sat next to him on the bed and John took her up in his arms. Mona's heart broke right in half at the beautiful sight. When she first came here, she had no idea that she would eventually witness John hugging one of the girls like he was now. It was incredible.

John eventually went downstairs and sat in one of the pews with his hands clasped together.

Mona returned to her room and many thoughts began to hit her at once.

* * *

 _She held her little girl in her arms slowly rocking her to shield her from the horrors outside. Screams were heard constantly followed by a sickening thwack. Mona softly sang a Chinese lullaby to her daughter to block out all the noises._

* * *

Tears formed in Mona's eyes as she recalled the fateful day she lost her daughter. That would always be the worst day of her life.

* * *

 _The door was kicked down and three Japanese soldiers invaded her home. They ripped her daughter away from her arms. One of the soldiers wrapped his strong arms around her waist, forbidding her from being able to help her little girl._

 _"_ _Mommy!" she screamed as tears began to run down her face._

* * *

Mona shut her eyes as her daughter's screams filled her head. They echoed in her brain and filled her with despair and regret. She had failed her baby girl.

* * *

 _"_ _Mommy, get them away from me!"_

 _"_ _Don't touch my baby!" Mona screamed._

 _She watched in horror as the men ripped her daughter's clothes._

 _"_ _Mommy, make them stop!"_

 _"_ _Stop this!" Mona cried. They forced her to watch them abuse her daughter in more ways than one._

 _When they were finished with her, the soldiers grabbed her daughter's legs and dragged her out the door._

 _"_ _MEI!" Mona screamed at the top of her lungs. "Get off her!"_

 _Though Mona did not see it, she heard a squish and Mei's screams and wails immediately silenced._

 _"_ _NO!" Mona cried. The soldier holding her spun her around, and she knew he was about to do the same to her, but a fierce order from outside caused him to drop her on the floor and run out of the house._

 _Tears fell down her face at an alarming rate, and she slowly stood up and went outside. There laid the body of little Mei, stripped naked and covered in blood with a gaping hole in her stomach where they had stabbed her._

 _Mona held the lifeless form in her arms drenching her arms and clothes in Mei's blood. She began screaming and crying as she caressed the body of the little girl she once called her daughter._

* * *

Mona crashed to the ground as the memories hit her all at once and she began sobbing. She wasn't aware how loud she had been crying until the faces of all twelve girls appeared in the doorway.

"I'm sorry," she choked out, wiping away her tears only for them to be replaced by more. "I didn't mean for you to hear me. You don't need to see this."

Shu knelt down on the floor next to her. "When we mourn, we do not mourn alone."

Mona began to cry harder and all of the girls came over to her and put their arms around her to let her know that she could cry and she didn't have to appear strong for them any longer.


	9. Mona and John

When Mona had finally calmed down, the girls all sat across from her in a small group.

"What were you crying about?" one of them asked her.

"I was thinking about my child I told you girls about. It wasn't too long ago when I lost her to the Japanese."

"How old was she?" another asked.

"She was around five or six."

"Was she pretty?"

"Oh, she was beautiful." Mona looked over at Shu. "I can't get over how much you look like an older version of her."

Shu put her head down. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"No," Mona said quickly. "No, that's okay. It's a good thing. It's like I have another piece of her to hold on to." Mona looked around her at all of the young girls. "You know, John was right. You all are so strong and so beautiful. You girls have huge hearts and each one of you have inspired me." She looked around again and then smiled. "Okay. Go get some of your clothes and let's go down to the cellar to meet with the women. Step one is to dress them up like you."

Mona waited for the girls to grab some of their extra clothes, then all of them went downstairs and opened the cellar door. They descended down the stairs and all the women came to meet them. Each of the girls met with one of the women and presented her with a uniform. Then all the girls watched as the women tried to put on the clothes. It ended up being problematic considering the women were a bit bustier than 13-year-old girls.

One of the women tried to help another button up the uniform, but it was useless. The girls started laughing at her poor attempts to put on the uniform. It was the first time Mona ever saw the girls smile and it filled her to the brim with happiness for the first time in weeks.

Mo got their attention and explained something to them in Chinese that made them all laugh even harder.

Together, all of them went up and grabbed the sheets off the beds and the curtains off the windows. They sewed the fabric from the cut-up curtains onto the uniforms to help them fit better so they could get it over their bodies. Once the uniforms were finished, Mona helped the women wrap their chests up in sheets in order to make them flatter and more like a schoolgirl's.

After the women were all dressed up to look like the girls, they all grabbed something small that came from what little possessions they had and held it in their hands, then went up to the girl they were going in place of.

Mona smiled at the bittersweet sight of all the women tearfully giving each girl a small present before they parted the next day. She realized that despite all of the events that had happened in the last few days, these girls and women shared a special bond now that no one, not even the Japanese, could break.

Tears fell down Mo's cheeks as she held Dou's old instrument. The bloody strings that they had gone back for now were tightened onto it. She handed it to Shu as her gift.

Shu asked her a question, and Mo's eyes brightened a little bit. The women gathered up in a group at the front by the stairs with Mo sitting down, brushing her fingers delicately against the strings to produce a beautiful sound.

With the girls and Mona watching as they sat on small crates, the women began singing a beautiful song and doing a simple dance to go along with it. Mona treasured these minutes more than anything. It was a perfect moment of unity.

When the women finished the song, everyone applauded for them. Mo gave a little nod and the girls came up and joined them.

"Mona," Mo said to her. "We all have something we would like to give to you as well as a thank you for all you have done for us."

"Really? What is it?"

The women and girls all smiled at each other. Apparently, they had all been planning this together in secret.

"We want to dress you up."

"You…you want to do what exactly?"

"We want to make you look even more beautiful than you already are. All of us would like to put some makeup on you, dress you up, and fix up your hair."

Mona laughed lightly. "I haven't done anything with myself in a very long time."

Mo smiled a little wider. "We want to help you impress Father John."

Mona scoffed and laughed harder. "I do not have feelings for John."

One of the women exclaimed something in Chinese that made all of the girls and women begin laughing. Mo looked over at Mona. "Ling says that your cheeks are getting very red!"

Mona's hands flew up to her face to cover her reddening cheeks which made everyone laugh even harder. She smiled at all of them. "Alright."

The women sat her down on a crate and began working on her. First, they took her hair out of her ponytail and let it collapse around her shoulders where it fell just below the middle of her back. She noticed that they all lightly gasped a bit when her hair was down.

"It looks so beautiful," Shu said to her.

"Thank you," Mona answered, touched by her sweet words.

Some of the women began tying and pinning up her hair so that half of it rested on her back while the other half was pinned up in a traditional Chinese style.

The girls helped some of the other women pick out a dress from their collection that they had brought back with them from the brothel. Once they finished Mona's hair, the women put on some of their makeup along her eyes and lips.

After Mona was finished with her hair and face, the girls and women presented the dress they had chosen for her to wear. It was quite elegant, yet simple at the same time. Seeing as Mona had no idea how to wear Chinese dresses, the women helped her get on the dress and then buttoned it up for her. Then they made her stand at the base of the stairs so they could all look at her.

"You look so gorgeous," Mo said. She walked up to Mona and handed her a very small mirror.

Mona gasped a little. She didn't recognize the woman staring back at her. She looked so much different…and for the first time in years, she felt beautiful. Tears formed in her eyes as she looked back at all the women and the girls.

"Thank you all so much," she quietly. "I haven't felt like this…in a while. You are all…so amazing. Thank you."

Every single one of the females went up to her and hugged her tightly as a few tears leaked from her eyes.

"Go," Mo said to her. "Go see John."

Mona laughed. "Wish me luck."

She went up the stairs and exited the cellar. John was nowhere in sight, so she went up to her room. She slowly opened the door and there he was with his back towards her. He turned at the sound of the door opening, and he froze in place at the sight of her new appearance.

"Um…hi," she said quietly. "They insisted on giving me a new look."

"You look…beautiful."

"Thank you." She nervously tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I feel beautiful." She smiled a little at him. "So…you said you're a terrible dancer?"

John laughed and nodded.

She stepped towards him. "Well, come here, I'll show you a couple moves."

They stood in the middle of the room and Mona guided John's hand to her waist while she held his other hand in hers.

"Now, it's easy. Just step in time to a beat." She started counting and led him in a small dance all across the room. At one point, John made her spin around in circles before wrapping his arms around her, and soon they were both laughing with pure pleasure.

They stopped dancing and met eyes for only a second. Slowly, they took their hands away and parted a little.

There was an awkward pause before Mona said to him, "John? I would like to apologize to you as well."

"What for?"

"I wasn't really…the nicest person to you when we first got here."

"Well, that wasn't really your fault. I _was_ kind of a jerk."

Mona smiled. "You said it, not me."

They both laughed together, which broke up the tension they had allowed to build up.

"I'm so sorry I acted so heartless when you had lost someone so close to you so recently. That was very disrespectful of me."

Mona took a small step towards him. "You know, when you first arrived, you only cared about three things. Yourself, drinks, and money. Well now you care about 24 things. And not one of those is one of the original."

John stepped towards her. "You're wrong." She looked up at him with slight confusion in her eyes. He took her hand in his. "I care about 25 things."

She looked straight into his eyes and noticed that they were a gorgeous green color that she got lost in. But she had never seen such love in them before. She tilted her head up and leaned closer to him. Their lips softly brushed against each other at first in a small kiss, then they began kissing with more fervor. After several kisses, they both broke apart for air and were breathing heavily. They looked into each other's eyes once more, and before they knew it, they were kissing again as John slid his hand under her knees and hefted her up bridal style into his arms.


	10. John's Secret

The girls and women quietly crept up to Mona's room to see what was going on. They hadn't seen Mona since she left after they had finished with her, and they were curious as to what happened since then.

The door was slightly ajar, so they opened it a little further, careful not to let it creak. When they looked inside, Mona and John were sleeping in the bed together and his arm was around her waist. They were both fully clothed, so it was evident they had not gone any farther than kissing. Some of them moved to let the others have a look too.

"I knew they liked each other," one of the women whispered in Chinese.

"Look at how close they are!" another added.

The girls and women began giggling which caused Mona to stir from her sleep. As she awoke, she looked towards the door and quietly laughed to herself as she saw all of the females scurrying away, having peeked in on their sleep.

She looked down and saw John's arm around her with her fingers intertwined into his. She had never felt so safe in so long. That was the most surprising thing of all. "John," she whispered. He made no movement. "John," she said a little louder. He finally stirred a little bit. She turned to him. "We have to get the women ready."

He groaned a little bit, but he knew she was right.

"You know, for what it's worth," she said as she turned her body to him, "that was the best sleep I've had in years."

She gently kissed him again, feeling his lips softly touch hers. Then she took the covers off and forced herself to get out of bed. Less than an hour had passed, and yet, she had never felt so refreshed.

Mona put her hair back up in a ponytail and changed back into her usual clothes. It wasn't that she didn't like what they did for her, but she needed to look the same for when the soldiers came by and there would be no time for her to change when that time came.

Mona went down to the cellar where the women were. The girls were nowhere in sight, so Mona assumed they must've gone to get some sleep, seeing as it was rather late and they had all had another emotionally exhausting day.

As soon as she showed her face, all the women began smiling and laughing. She rolled her eyes and smiled back at them, knowing they were teasing her about seeing her with John.

"Okay," she said as she appeared at the top of the stairs. "John's going to get started with making all of you look like the girls. Who's going be the brave first one?"

Mo translated for the women in Chinese what Mona had just said to them. "I will go first," she told Mona.

"Then come with me," Mona smiled.

The two women walked back up and when they got to the bottom of the stairs by her room, Mo stopped her. "Mona, we can't thank you enough for all you've done for us. You may not realize it, but you've changed a lot since our first day here."

"Really?"

"You are more accepting of us as people." There was a pause before she said, "Shu told me about what happened to your daughter. I'm very sorry."

Mona nodded, but didn't say anything. It was still extremely difficult for her to talk about Mei.

"You have also changed me," Mo continued. "Everyone is dealing with something, we just may not know what that is. But knowing that, we must treat everyone with respect."

Mona smiled lightly. "You're right, Mo. You know, you've…you've taught me a lot. I'm honored to be your friend."

The two women smiled at each other and walked up the stairs to Mona's room.

"Mo's agreed to be the first one," Mona smiled at John as they walked in.

"Fine with me," John laughed as he got all his tools ready.

"Is it alright if I sit on your bed?" Mo asked Mona.

"Of course," Mona answered.

John turned to look at Mo. "Mo, would…" He looked at her and laughed lightly. "You look so sweet. Would you mind…lying down? I'm just not used to…"

"People who can sit?" Mo finished.

"Right," John laughed. "People who can sit. Would you mind?"

"Mona, is it okay?"

Mona nodded and she was surprised about Mo asking for her permission to sit and lay on the bed. It showed great respect and character and Mo definitely had a lot of that.

Mo lied down on the bed and John sat down next to her. "So madam, what will it be?" he asked. "Fourteen years old?"

"How about thirteen? Until thirteen I was a good girl."

"Very good. Thirteen it is. So I'll straighten your hair, cut it in a bob. I have an idea, I think it'll be beautiful." He took a huge prosthetic nose out of his pile of tools and put it on her face. "This is what we need. It's perfect."

Mo slapped his hand away and the three of them laughed together when they realized his joke. It was nice to have this kind of laughter and fun given the complete horrors that had occurred over the course of the last few days.

"Okay," John said, playfully getting himself serious again. He looked over at her. "The way you are now is what I like the best."

"It's true," Mona said. "You are so beautiful, Mo. Inside and out. I'm glad we all got to see the real you."

Mo looked up at the couple. "I have seen the love you have for each other in both of your eyes. That itself is beautiful. Please don't ever lose that."

Mona and John looked at each other for a moment, and Mona realized that she was right. John did have love for her in his eyes. And though it surprised both of him, the love was reciprocated in hers.

John began cutting Mo's hair into a schoolgirl style. It didn't take too long and by the end of it, Mo was barely recognizable.

"John, that's amazing," Mona remarked.

They all went back down to the cellar to show the other women the new Mo. They all started squealing as they made comments on her hair and on John's skills.

"They all want you to give them a makeover," Mo said to John.

"My pleasure," John smiled. Then he added in Chinese, "Glad to serve you."

The women started giggling fiercely at his use of their native language.

"Do you just want to do the rest down here?" Mona asked him.

"That'd be easiest," he answered. He started putting crates along the floor in a line for the women to lie on.

"Here," he said.

Mo said something to them that made them all look kind of uncomfortable.

"Are they disturbed…by the way I work? I'm sorry."

Mo said something to the women again with a smile. Ling hopped up on the crates and someone passed her a coat for her to put her head on then she lied down on it. The rest of the girls formed a line that John could easily work down. They all looked pretty excited by the idea of someone like John working on their hair, which wasn't all that an unreasonable reaction.

"Mona, could you hold the lantern for me?" John asked her.

"Of course."

Mona grabbed a lantern hanging from the cellar ceiling and then got a chair so she could sit next to him and provide him the light.

"How long have you been doing this kind of thing?" Mona asked once they got started and the other women had fallen asleep on the crates while they waited for their turn.

"For five years," John answered.

"Well, I've got to hand it to you. You do a really good job with this. I mean, you've made Mo look almost exactly like one of the girls."

"It matters. It matters to me. Before my daughter died, she made me promise to make her beautiful again. That was the first time."

Mona was speechless for a few seconds. "You lost a daughter too?" she asked.

"Yeah, from pneumonia. She just got really sick and there wasn't anything the doctors could do."

"Well, what happened to the mother?"

"Died in childbirth."

"I'm so sorry."

"It's important. It's important work." He paused, then said tearfully, "She would have been twelve."

"So that's why you said you get drunk as much as you can. When you're drunk, you forget your pain."

"Yeah."

"Well, John, if you keep doing that, you're not only going to lose her. You're going to lose yourself."

"How did you deal with losing your daughter?"

"I'm still dealing with it. I only lost her a few weeks ago. All those memories are still so fresh in my mind. And I know they're never going away. But…in order to honor her, I don't want to lose those memories of her, even those bad ones. Because I only got a couple years with her, and I want to hold onto her as much as I possibly can."

"I think I need to start doing that for my little girl. I don't want to lose her."

"What was her name?"

"Alice. Yours?"

"Mei."

"I think they would've gotten along well."

"I think they would've too. They might've even been best friends."


	11. Painful Good-Byes

John worked all through the night and Mona stayed by his side, holding up the light for him to work by. The women seemed to love him rubbing his hands over their head and neck, and she honestly couldn't say she blamed them.

In the morning when John had finished all of the girls, Mona had to say that he did an excellent job.

They all excitedly examined themselves in mirrors and touched each other's face and hair. Some of them looked at John and gave him a thumbs-up to which Mona and John just had to smile.

One of the girls got really emotional at the sight of herself, but Ling was there to lighten up the mood again and get them all to laugh once more.

All of the women lined up by the stairs in front of John and Mona for them to see that they were now students.

George began counting them, but Mo said something to him in Chinese. Then she turned to John and Mona. "We are one short."

"How many did the Japanese say?" John asked. "How many?"

"Thirteen," George answered.

"How many?"

"Thirteen," Mo said. "We only have twelve here."

Mona put her hand to her head and sighed.

"This is a terrible joke," John whispered in defeat.

"Believe me, I would go in a heartbeat if I could," Mona told them. "But even if I wore a wig, I don't have the right facial features."

One of the women crossed her arms and said something in Chinese.

George looked back at John and Mona. "I will go," he said to them.

Both of their heads snapped up at him in disbelief. No words came to either of them.

"I will go," he said again.

"George…" John said.

Mo translated for the women and they all started murmuring things to themselves and to George.

George ran over to where Mona and John were sitting and knelt down before them. "Father Ingleman ask me to protect students. But I'm not good. I'm…I'm terrible. I'm…I'm bad."

"George, that's not true," Mona said to him. "You're not bad."

The women started saying things in Chinese again and whatever they said caused George to stand up and shout something at them. John and Mona could only watch as the awkward confrontation ensued.

Finally, he knelt down in front of them again. "If we have one missing, the Japanese will find out, then a big trouble. You are good at make-up. You can do for me."

"George, I'm not that good," John mumbled. "I'm not that good."

"No, you can."

"George, stop it. It can't work."

"You can!" George began to cry as he spoke, pleading with John to see things his way. "The church to the car just a short way! You are good at make-up, you can do for me! I will lower my head! It's possible, it just a short way!"

Mona put her hands together and placed them on her mouth. John looked over at her, and she could see the hundreds of emotions running through his eyes, clouding them over. This was such a nightmare.

"You can. It's possible," George pleaded.

Seeing no other options, John, Mona, and George all collected the black pieces of hair on the floor that were left behind from the women's haircuts.

John then took George's hat and put a cloth over it to use as a template for the wig he was going to make. He made up some hot tar and carefully sealed pieces of hair all over the piece of cloth. Mona and George cut up the hair for him and handed it to him to place onto the cloth. They ended up running out of hair and had to take some from a couple of the girls.

Meanwhile in the cellar, the girls rubbed dirt over their faces to hide themselves easier when the time came. The plan was for them to stay in the cellar until John and Mona came and got them when the Japanese had left the church.

Once the tar had dried on the cloth, John put it over top of George's head and styled it into a schoolgirl's hairstyle.

Then he took a deep breath and leaned back a little to get a better look. George really could pass for one of them if he kept his head down enough.

"You know what could happen?" John asked him.

"Yes, yes, I know," George answered. "I can do what Father Ingleman tell me."

"Amazing. I think I hear what the Father is saying right now."

"Yes?"

"Yeah."

"What he saying?"

"I think he's saying that you've done an incredible…an incredible job, taking care of the girls. And that you're good, so good."

George's face lit up in a way that Mona had never seen from him and it was beautiful.

"And I think he's also asking," John continued. He put on a foreign accent and said, "What are you doing with that awful wig on your head?"

All three of them laughed together at his small joke. John went back to fixing his wig and it broke Mona's heart to see John trying so hard to keep it together.

Once he had finished with George, he and Mona went back up to the room to get John's priest garments on and left George to dress in a uniform.

"I can't believe we're doing this," John muttered as Mona helped him into his garments.

"What choice do we have?" Mona said. "This is just…one huge nightmare. I just want to wake up and have all of this just be a bad dream."

"Me too. But Mona? While I do wish all of this wasn't happening, I'm glad I came here. Because I got to meet you."

"I feel the same way."

Their eyes met and they slowly drew towards one another and shared a soft kiss. She felt John's hand slide around her back while her hands rested on his arms. They parted and smiled a little at each other then headed downstairs. The women slammed mirrors onto the ground where they shattered into several pieces. They took the sharpest shards out of the bunch and tied them up with little pieces of cloth. Then they tucked them into their uniforms and Mona smiled as she realized they were making weapons to defend themselves from the Japanese.

As they did that, John, Mona, and George all sat on one of the pews.

"You know that you can't really go there," John said to him. "You gotta escape somehow before you get there. You gotta jump from the car or the truck or whatever. You wait until it slows down, goes around the corner, that's when you jump."

"No, I'm no jumping," George said firmly. "Don't teach me."

"Why not?"

"If I jump, Japanese will find out. I will go all the way, give you more time. Both of you and the girls get out of the church."

John patted him on his shoulder encouragingly. Mona smiled sadly at him, proud of him for doing such a very, very brave thing and sacrificing himself for the lives of all of the girls.

As they watched the women tuck their makeshift weapons into their uniforms, John asked, "Have you got something as well?"

George nodded, but said nothing. Mona emotional level had reached its peak and she was completely drained. However, now was the time when she needed to be most alert, so she forced herself to get it together.

John stood up from the pews and took Mona's hand, helping her stand up as well. She gave George a small squeeze and then she and John walked to the cathedral entrance to wait for the soldiers.

The doors to the cathedral walls banged open and Mona unconsciously grabbed onto John's shoulder, but quickly released once she realized she had done it. She straightened up her posture and tried to appear professional for the intruders.

A soldier came up to them and started speaking in Japanese. Another soldier came up beside him and offered John and Mona a small bag. John took it and opened it and inside was a small toy of a white cat that was smiling and waving.

The two of them went inside the cathedral and solemnly nodded to the women. In a single file line, they all began to exit the church.

At the entrance to the cathedral walls, John and Mona stood together to see them off. When each woman passed, John gave her a small little present and Mona gave her a warm hug and a small kiss on the cheek. The fearful look on their faces tore her up inside. Tears were starting to slide down her cheeks and try as she might, she just could not make them stop.

The soldier counted the women as they exited, making sure they had thirteen, then they were loaded up into the truck.

When Mo came out, Mona hugged her even tighter than the rest. "Thank you," she whispered softly into her ear before giving her a small kiss.

Following Mo was George and he was sobbing, knowing what was going to happen to him. Mona hugged him longest and gave him a warm soft kiss on the cheek. "Stay strong. We're so proud of you," she said.

Last to come out was Mosquito. John gently put his arm on her and Mona did the same for her as she had done for the others.

But when the soldiers tried to load her onto the truck, she started screaming and crying in Chinese and tried to pull away from them. John and Mona looked at each other, panicked that she would give them all away. John quickly ran up to her and took her up in his arms. Mosquito sobbed in his embrace and Mona joined in on the hug as well.

For a second, it almost felt like her daughter was back in her arms with a husband by her side. The mere thought of that made tears come down her cheeks even faster.

John took out the toy cat and handed it to her as her present. Mosquito looked at the present with wide eyes. Suddenly, the soldiers roughly pushed John and Mona away from the poor woman and loaded her onto the truck.

"Be gentle with her, she's just a girl," John begged.

Mo took Mosquito into her arms and the women in the truck all clung tightly to one another in fear. The curtain closed, and it was the last time Mona would ever see any of their faces.

A loud gunshot pierced the air and Mona turned to find that one of the Japanese had shot Mr. Meng at point-blank right in the forehead. John and Mona ran over to his body and knelt down beside him as the soldiers left the cathedral in their trucks.

John put Mr. Meng's hat over his face in respect, as there was no time to bury him. The both of them stood up and watched the trucks fade away into the distance, hidden by the smoke.

Mona looked over at John and began sobbing her heart out. John went up to her and wrapped his strong arms around her, gently stroking the back of her head. She cried and cried onto his shoulder, clinging onto him so much, her knuckles turned white.

She felt like she had lost her daughter all over again.

"We've gotta go," John said softly to her.

She nodded and they both ran back into the church and towards the cellar. John quickly leaned down and opened up the cellar door.

"Let's go," he ordered. "Come on."

They all brought up as many crates from the cellar as they could and bolted out to the awaiting truck.

The girls began climbing up into the truck bed, but John pulled Shu aside. "Shu. Come here." He firmly grasped her shoulder and looked straight into her eye. "Your father is a good man. Your father is a good man. We could never have done this without your father. He's a good man."

Mona hugged Shu tightly, feeling like she was getting the chance to see her daughter all grown up. She lightly gave her a kiss on the cheek, not caring about all of the dirt. Then Shu climbed up into the truck as well. The girls all lay flat and John covered them up with pieces of wood that looked like crates.

"Watch your legs. Watch it. Yeah."

Shu held firmly to Dou's instrument as if it was her tether to life itself. Once the girls were covered with the wood, John and Mona put crates over top of them to shield them even further. Then they firmly closed the truck bed, tied up the crates so they wouldn't fall over, and tied up a Japanese flag onto the front of the truck for easier access. It was the last thing Mona wanted to do, but it was necessary.

John began turning the crank to get the truck going, but it would not start. He gave a few frustrated grunts, and sank down for a second.

"You can do it," Mona said softly to him.

He stood up again and with a small prayer and one last firm crank, the engine turned over and the truck started.

Mona smiled at him and let out a small laugh.

"Get in," John ordered.

She obliged his request and quickly hopped into the passenger seat of the truck. John drove away from the cathedral, and they sadly looked on at Mr. Meng's lifeless body lying on the street.

They kept driving until they came to the border that was blocked by Japanese soldiers who ordered John and Mona out of the truck. A couple of the soldiers smiled lustfully when they saw Mona and she began to feel quite nervous. John lightly pulled her closer to him and showed them their permit to get out of the country.

"Is this good for us to go through?" John asked the soldier as he inspected the cloth.

The soldier pointed to the truck and asked something in Japanese before heading to the back.

"Empty wine cases," John explained, "but…four of them are full. They are…very good, very good. Here. You see, vintage. If you would like some."

The soldier motioned for John to open the truck. Mona's heart began pounding fiercely in her chest, hoping and praying that the girls would be able to stay quiet and not be discovered.

"These," John said as he showed them the wine. "Take."

It seemed to please the soldiers enough because they allowed John and Mona to get back into the truck.

Mona breathed a huge sigh of relief as they drove away. She never felt such euphoria in her entire life. She looked over at John and saw his eyes misting with large tears as some spilled from his eyes and traveled down his cheeks.

Mona took his hand in hers and squeezed it tightly as tears formed in her own eyes as well.

They were free, but their freedom had come at a terrible price.

While the nightmares of Nanking were now behind them, the memories would always be there. And while the future looked bright, no one would ever forget the darkness of the past.

But no one could ever shatter the bonds that were formed in the cathedral of Nanking in 1937.


End file.
